explosive

UK/ɛkˈspləʊsɪv/US/ɛkˈsploʊsɪv/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

explosive adjective: able to, or likely to, explode.

Adjective

explosive (comparative more explosive, superlative most explosive)

Able to, or likely to, explode.
- an explosive device
Antonyms:

implosive, inert, nonflammable
Having the character of an explosion.
- an explosive fire
1. Of a specific cellular automaton rule, tending to exhibit infinite and unpredictable growth when starting from finite random patterns.
  - Notes: A rule set that (very probably) results in explosive growth; certainly in area if not population.1992 June 2, Dave Boll, “Variations on Conway's LIFE”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet)
  - For example, putting a 1 at (0: 1,1) will cause explosive growth in all directions, putting a 1 at (0: 0,2A) will cause pairs of diagonal cells in a 2x2 square to alternate on and off, putting a 1 at (1: 4,4) will cause all solid 1 areas to stay 1 for another cycle, etc.1994 April 4, Robert Andreen, “CA rules”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet)
(figuratively) Rapidly accelerating.
- Near-synonym: plyometric
- explosive movements
Synonyms:

plyometric
(figuratively) Shocking; startling.
- an explosive accusation
(slang) Easily driven to anger, usually with reference to a person.
- He has an explosive personality.
(archaic) Synonym of plosive.
- the explosive consonants
Synonyms:

plosive

Noun

explosive (plural explosives)

Any explosive substance.
(dated) A plosive.
- The words of these songs were either without meaning, or derived from an idiom with which Watt, a very fair linguist, had no acquaintance. The open a sound was predominant, and the explosives k and g.1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC

explosive meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

explosive in Hindi

with the capability to, or likely to, explode: विस्फोटक visphoṭak
explosive substance: विस्फोटक visphoṭak

explosive in Tamil

வெடிப் பொருள்

explosive in Marathi

explosive: स्फोटक sphoṭak

explosive in Urdu

آتش بار

More languagesFewer languages

explosive in Bengali: বিস্ফোরক
explosive in Malayalam: വെടിപൊട്ടുന്ന, പൊട്ടിത്തെറിക്കാവുന്ന
explosive in Kannada: ಸಿಡಿಮದ್ದು
explosive in Punjabi: ਬਰੂਦ barūd
explosive in Gujarati: વિસ્ફોટક
explosive in Odia: ବିସ୍ଫୋରକ
explosive in Sanskrit: स्फोटक sphoṭaka
explosive in Tagalog: pampasabog
explosive in Arabic: اِنْفِجَارِيّ infijāriyy, مُتَفَجِّر mutafajjir, مُتَفَجِّرَة mutafajjira, مَادَّة مُتَفَجِّرَة mādda mutafajjira
explosive in Persian: مادهٔ منفجره mâdde-ye monfajere
explosive in Thai: วัตถุระเบิด wát-tù-rá-bə̀ət
explosive in Vietnamese: chất nổ, thuốc nổ

Examples of explosive in a sentence

The assassin liked to make a clean kill, and thus favored small arms over explosives.
The idea that the Bible should be translated into vernaculars was explosive in medieval society.
Spark arrestors play a critical role in the prevention of wildland fire and ignition of explosive atmospheres.

All 40 example sentences with explosive

Synonyms of explosive

Antonyms

Forms of explosive

Adjective
comparative	more explosive
superlative	most explosive
Noun
plural	explosives

Origin of explosive

From Latin explōs-, stem of the perfect passive participle of explōdō + the suffix -ive.

Phrases with explosive

Questions about explosive

What does explosive mean?: Explosive means able to, or likely to, explode.
What is explosive in Hindi?: Explosive in Hindi is विस्फोटक (visphoṭak). See Explosive meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is explosive?: Explosive can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce explosive?: Explosive is pronounced /ɛkˈspləʊsɪv/ (UK).

Words near explosive in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-explosive.wav, En-au-explosive.ogg.

Cite this entry: “explosive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/explosive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.